Honor 9/11 Fallen – Share Lessons Learned

The attacks of September 11, 2001, left wounds on our nation that have not completely healed. On the 10th anniversary of this tragic event, please join us in remembrance of the more than 3,000 individuals who lost their lives, including five fellow civil engineers who were members of the Society. We also salute the civil engineering professionals who worked heroically in the aftermath of these events and who continue to work to design and build infrastructure that can save lives in the event of future attacks.

Many lessons were learned in the post-disaster assessment which should be shared. For example, one of the design and construction innovations is the newly released blast resistance standard developed by ASCE which can enhance the construction or renovation of other buildings. The need for improved access for first responders and for the evacuation of buildings was also noted, and resulted in the creation of much wider stairwells in the new World Trade Center than existed in the original Twin Towers. In addition, a separate staircase was created to provide unencumbered access for rescue workers. Sharing these and other lessons learned is a way all of us can honor those whose lives were lost. We encourage you to reach out to your local media and share the civil engineering perspective and the positive potential of this new knowledge to save lives in the future.

To commemorate the 10th anniversary, ASCE has assembled a special remembrance section of our Web site. We are honored to feature exclusive audio podcast interviews with five prominent civil engineers who share personal recollections of that day, provide insights into their roles before and after the attacks, and offer what they believe is the legacy of those events for the profession of civil engineering.

The ASCE Web special also includes links to ASCE reports on the investigations, other significant 10th anniversary retrospectives on the Web, and details on the new World Trade Center, the Pentagon reconstruction and memorial, and the Flight 93 memorial being built in Shanksville, PA.

What other civil engineering lessons have you learned from that tragic day and how can they benefit the profession and society as a whole?